Wednesday

. . This turned out to be a very lazy day. I wandered around Old Town, ate lunch, did some shopping and arrived back at the house at 1:30 just in time to read and sleep most of the afternoon away. The weather was spectacular with a little breeze coming in off the coast. I noticed myself walking on the shady side of the street because the temperatures are beginning to elevate as the month progresses. Natalia came in about 6am this morning from her mother’s place; she was tired but claims to have slept well enough to make it through the day. Her mother is feeling better but has no desire to get out of bed, there are no broken bones. Natalia is concerned about possible pneumonia if she does not start moving soon. This is the last day for the auditors at work so she is looking forward to things easing up a bit for her. . . . . . I have myself pretty well organized around here so tomorrow after the cleaning lady leaves I will begin my packing for the return trip to the ice and cold. Getting myself packed won’t be much of a problem; I was surprised how easy it was to pack up when I was getting ready to come down here. It takes about 30 minutes when I really set my mind to it. Natalia thinks she has a friend who will drive me to the airport Friday morning; I mentioned to her that I would rather pay her friend the 400 Pesos than to give it to a taxi driver. She has not yet verified that that will be the case but I expect she will come through on the idea. Four hundred pesos goes a long way in this town. I am sure she would do it herself if she dared to be late for work but that is not Natalia’s way. Daniel, her Nephew, who picked me up from the airport when I arrived is away at college and won’t be back in town until Easter. Natalia laughed when I mentioned staying until then. She did discover that the woman scientist from Cuba will be arriving on Friday but will not be staying with Natalia. The Cuban Gvt. did not want to pay the fees she was requesting. Natalia is pleased with the outcome of it all.